Bartolomeu Dias despatched to seek Prester John and India via the Cape

Ill-founded calculations derived partly from d'Aveiro's report about the Benin Oghene inspired John II to despatch Bartolomeu Dias to seek Prester John and India by way of the Cape of Good Hope in August 1487. The Portuguese king believed that the Oghene lay 250 leagues east of Benin and must therefore be Prester John, since both were concealed behind curtains and held the Cross in great veneration. These calculations also raised hopes of the speedy conversion of Benin, assumed to be already under the distant influence of a form of Christianity.